SC dismisses Maya Kodnani's interim bail

(File) Former Gujarat minister and BJP member Maya Kodnani, center, exits a court in Ahmedabad. A special court found 32 people including Kodnani, guilty for their role in the Naroda Patiya riots of 2002. The court acquitted 29 others. AP/Ajit Solanki

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend the interim bail of former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani - who was convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case - and directed her to approach the Gujarat high court.

A bench of justice HL Dattu and justice SA Bobde turned down her plea for further extension of bail that she had sought on the grounds that she is unwell and could not be treated in jail. The high court had granted interim bail till February.

Kodnani had filed a petition challenging the February 8 order of the high court declining to extend her three-month temporary bail granted on medical grounds on November 12 last year.

She had sought an extension of the bail by 180 days.

The apex court had earlier extended the interim bail granted to her till February 24 but also made it clear that it won't be further extended if she fails to file an affidavit stating the nature of burn injury she suffered.

In August 2012, a trial court had awarded life imprisonment to Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and 29 others for Naroda Patiya riots in which 97 people were killed.

The trial court had dubbed Kodnani, a sitting BJP MLA and former minister in Narendra Modi government, as "kingpin of riots" in Naroda area and sentenced her to 26 years in jail.